We live in an unreal world. Everything that is seen in this world emanates from the mental realm and since the mental realm is limited in terms of perception, the world is thoroughly “unrealâ€. What we see in this world is the reality of someone else and every invention can be traced to the framework of a human mind. This is why the visible world is a shadow of the invisible world though the bible corroborates this latter statement in many words but common sense confirms it; your physical environment is a reflection of your thoughts – the car you drive, the nature of your work (whether excellent or sloppy), the kind of wife/husband you marry, the way you dress, the way you look, etc
I came from a very humble background (though these words may seem very relative but the sense in this context should be understood) and for almost everyone that comes from such background, economic independence is pertinent to them. In trying to attain this height, ways are concocted; whether to chase shadows or chase the real substance. In the light of the map (financially disadvantaged) in which we are coming from, we almost if not always chase the shadow. We base almost all our life decisions on money (consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously). People who are conscious of this fact always know when separate the shadow from the substance but most people are unconscious of it. Every life decision, from the kind of wife/husband to the job applied to. The recent NLNG test proves this scenario – a 3-year work experienced fellow in the bank, consulting or even telecoms going for an entry level test. The major catch is money though many deny it (mostly Christians).
I am not against economic independence (in fact I am a strong advocate) but I am weary of the deception that comes with this turf. I want people to understand that money-chasing is simply shadow and a proof of it is the constant cycle of demand it brings to our decision making scenarios. We need to understand that money is the shadow of the substance so that our decisions would be premised on the substance since the decisions of each individual affects the environment we live in (the decision of a political leader to be corrupt affects the nation-state). Since my write-ups are focused on youths who may be making these decisions one day, it is imperative that I reveal this great deception called shadow. Then what is actually the substance?
In trying to discover what the substance is, let us consider the fact that people have different opinions to various things in life and these opinions are founded on the way they see the world. Let’s take the issue of sex and different cultural perspective;
It is rumored that the average Calabar lady (mostly those that live there) does not regard sex as a sanctimonious act; it is seen in the light of sport and regarded as a prerequisite to good marriage while the average Yoruba lady has a different perspective to sex. An average guy toasts an average Yoruba lady; he must go through all the process of gift buying, dinner-taking, cinema watching and finally maybe a promissory marriage in sight before the lady could allow the guy kiss her but the Calabar lady does not need all that process, if she likes you she would have sex with you. The average Ibo lady does not need process too but she must be sure that you have enough money to spend on her; in fact she must get something from you before she even considers sleeping with you; I don’t think loving and liking is an issue with them just money.
I am not sure how true these rumors are but behind every smoke there is definitely a fire. Based on their perspective, the fidelity ratio is a different thing to consider. The three ladies (Ibo, Yoruba and Calabar) still have good marriages, though their world views may be different. If “good marriage†is the end in sight, then no perspective is wrong just different ways of seeing things. This brings me to another story of a business dinner with one of my company’s client from Canada, I remember ordering juice with my meal and I could not believe the surprise in the eyes of the clients; they wonder why I should be taking juice in the evening instead of the alcohol drinks they all ordered. Another surprise hit them during our personal conversation, when I told them I was married; they just could not fathom me at my age getting married. They were really shocked and I was actually surprised they were shocked.
These stories show that different perspective but no absolute truth; every single person believes he is right and becomes successful therefore re-enforcing his belief that what he believes in, is the absolute truth gauging it on success level. So in defining substance, we must trace it to what Jesus said in the bible – the Holy Spirit shall lead us into all truths. This brings the dimension of the absolute truth (which I would call the substance) to light; when the rich man came to Jesus concerning his lack of wholeness, Jesus told him to take instruction instead of wealth. He made him understand that in order to understand true wisdom, which the world is blinded to because had they known it they would not have crucified the Jesus, he must let go off all hindrances and see what money is; a mere shadow.
The substance therefore is the inspired thoughts from God for a unique individual for a specific purpose. This leads me to what is called the Logos and the Rhema; the Logos is the summation of the thought of God while the Rhema is the specific thought to a specific person at a specific season. All the specific are very important when discussing the Rhema because the erring of Moses to strike the rock despite God telling him to speak to it is an example of “specific thoughtâ€, Daniel keeping still in the Lion’s den despite reading Samson’s way of dealing with lions is an example “specific person†and Jesus giving the same instructions to his disciples to evangelize at different times depicts “specific seasonâ€. Then we can infer that the Rhema is the true substance in which all physical things emanate from. You don’t have to be a believer to access the rhema, you simply have to be prepared (the part two of this on going series talks about luck).
The prepared mind acquires substance not the Christians. The Christians find it difficult to differentiate the two phenomenons – shadow and substance. The acid test for a shadow is when you continue doing the same thing constantly without result. You keep on chasing the same thing constantly without a sure resolve of what you want. The example of the NLNG test depicts this last sentence where upon admission into NLNG, you still find a reason to look for another company where you believe would make you happy. There is never an end, there is never a resolve and there is never power to grab the wisdom from on high. You have got to understand that what you truly want is a word from God (Rhema); it is this word that is the substance that eventually brings on shadows like money, romance, career progress, upward mobility and excellence…..Â
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